Michael Kerstgens:
New Life: Russians Jews Germans

This book concludes photographer Michael Kerstgens’ long-running project on Jewish life in Germany. The point of departure for his documentation in this volume is the period of reorientation of Jewish life in Germany following reunification and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Beginning in 1990, thousands of Kontingentflüchtlinge, or Jewish “contingent refugees,” flocked to Germany from Russia and other post-Soviet states. Their work revolves around social life in Jewish communities and all the religious and social challenges these people face. The book closes with recent updates on Jewish families that Kerstgens photographed in the early 1990s.